The present invention relates to projectile apparatus and feed mechanisms therefore. More particularly but not exclusively, the present invention relates to a paint ball blowgun and a feed mechanism for a paint ball blowgun.
When firing projectiles, and in particular when engaging in the sport of paintball, it is desirable to be able to rapidly fire a successive round after firing a first round. Accordingly, many weapons are adapted for automatic or semiautomatic operation such that multiple rounds can be fired in a short period of time. However, many of these prior art mechanisms are complicated and costly, requiring numerous parts and associated interconnections, and they can be unreliable and prone to failure. Others depend integrally on an explosion or other mechanical burst of air from the firing mechanism and are consequently ineffective for use with a blowgun or other human powered weapon.
Accordingly there is a need for a novel feed mechanism that can reliably load projectiles to a gun barrel. There is also a need for a feed mechanism that is lightweight, portable, and easily assembled and does not block the operator""s line of sight. There is also a need for a feed mechanism that can load projectiles in a simple and cost effective manner. There is also a need for a feed mechanism that does not hinder the firing ability, accuracy, or range of the weapon. Finally there is a need for a feed mechanism that can be used with a blowgun.
Some of these needs are met by various embodiments of the present invention.
In one aspect there is provided a device for feeding projectiles to a gun barrel including; a hopper for containing projectiles, a housing communicating with the hopper and including an outlet communicating with the gun barrel, an indexed loading disk mounted at the outlet and having a number of projectile spaces, and a trigger assembly coupled to the loading member to rotate the loading member to one of the index positions having one of the spaces over the outlet to transfer a projectile to the gun barrel.
In another aspect there is provided a projectile feeder for a blowgun including: a housing with an outlet communicating with a blowgun barrel, a loading member rotatably mounted at the outlet to rotate about an axis substantially not parallel to the blowgun barrel, where the loading member has a number of projectile spaces and is selectively positionable with each of the plurality of spaces in communication with the outlet to load a projectile into the blowgun barrel, and a manually operated trigger assembly to sequentially rotate the loading member a predetermined amount for each operative stroke of the trigger assembly.
In another aspect there is provided a method of loading a gun including: providing a gun and a number of projectiles, providing a projectile feeder with a housing having an outlet, a loading member with a number of projectile spaces selectively positionable over the outlet, a projectile supply hopper, and a trigger for rotating the loading member to load the gun barrel, the trigger not also controlling the firing of the gun, sequentially indexing the loading member by activating the trigger to load projectiles to the gun barrel without also automatically firing the gun.